ASUU Accuses FG of Prolonging Strike
3 min read
by Pearl Harold
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of being responsible for the lingering strike embarked on by the union.
A press statement signed by the president of the ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi and made available to newsmen, stated that ASUU had made some compromises in some of their demands, but government has failed to do its part to end the crisis in the nation’s universities.
“ASUU has shifted positions in some respects. For instance, our members have reduced their demand of one tranche (N200b) of the outstanding revitalization fund by 50%. The union has also agreed that N30b out of the N40b of the Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) be paid to our members while the balance of N10b could be spread over the next two tranches. We are equally making steady progress on other issues” ASUU stated.
ASUU reminded Nigerians that it is fighting their battle, noting that it is struggling to ensure that the children of the poor who can not afford high school fees in private universities or have the opportunities to travel abroad get quality education in Nigeria.
ASUU added, “This will only happen when government adequately funds public universities and address the rot and decay in the universities.”
The union further noted that what has stopped meaningful discussions was the insistence by government that payment of the withheld salaries and other entitlements of its members would be done through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System ( IPPIS)
The union, which also accused government of punishing its members because they rejected IPPIS, which it noted, was imposed on the universities against the provisions of the law on autonomy and universal practices, added that ASUU is at the final stage of the integrity test of the Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) with the National Information Technology Development Agency ( NITDA).
The statement further said that UTAS was developed locally by ASUU members and has been presented to the Minister of Education and other top government’s officials, who raised questions that were satisfactorily answered by the union.
“With the full cooperation of the concerned agencies, the final test with NITDA could be concluded in a matter of days and UTAS adopted in place of IPPIS in our universities”, the union added.
ASUU called on government to release all what is due its members and union without any conditionality of IPPIS, adding that it would enable the union conclude on the outstanding five demands and pave way for the quick resolution of the crisis.
The outstanding five demands, according to the union, include, revitalization, EAA, renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement, inauguration of visiting panels, proliferation of state universities and governance issues.
Academic activities in Nigeria’s public universities have been stalled about 8 months ago due to the industrial action embarked on by ASUU to press home their demands.
